Hong Kong’s public hospitals expect to hire 250 non-locally trained doctors this year, a senior official said as he expressed confidence in addressing a manpower shortage in the sector through overseas recruitment.
Hospital Authority (HA) chairperson Henry Fan said there are currently around 150 non-locally trained doctors working in the city after authorities stepped up international recruitment efforts last year, local media reported.
Speaking at the annual Hospital Authority Convention which opened on Thursday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Fan said the authority planned further exchanges with hospitals in mainland China when its manpower shortage is alleviated by the end of this year.
Such exchanges would expand on field trips by local medics to hospitals in mainland cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou over the past year, he added.
At the same event, Cao Xuetao, vice-minister of China’s National Health Commission, said central authorities would help Hong Kong strengthen its cross-border training and collaboration with the mainland.
Cao urged the city to integrate with China’s national health development plan, and said he would encourage mainland health authorities and medical organisations to visit Hong Kong.
“Medical professionals in Hong Kong should leverage the advantages in education, language, and networking and exert greater influence on the international stage, so as to promote a good story of China’s health development,” Cao added.
Hong Kong’s public hospitals have struggled with a labour shortage in recent years, with 1,032 doctors resigning over the past three years.
A total of 391 doctors retired or resigned in 2023, equivalent to a turnover rate of 6.1 per cent, down from 7.1 per cent in 2022.
In response, the HA has strengthened recruitment efforts in the UK, Australia and North America, which are popular with Hongkongers pursuing medical degrees.
Hong Kong also opened pathways to doctors trained in mainland China after two registration schemes that recognised certain medical qualifications from mainland universities were launched in 2021.
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